In the week of the Science Festival, I came across a great blog from Ines Cifuentes of the Amercian Geophysical Union who talks about the need for scientists to become storytellers. What does that mean? Instead of relying on giving out information, we have to use emotions, humor, visuals, anything and all to draw people in, hold their attention, and make them learn.
This blog also linked us to the work of Randy Olson who is a scientist turned film maker. In his ‘Benshi Blog’, there is a film about the rare Majestic Plastic Bag: A Mockumentary – we encourage you to take a look. Randy has also written a book called Don’t be such a scientist, talking substance in an age of style – we will be reviewing this book and getting back to you! We have also placed more of Ines Cifuentes’s blog on our New information and knowledge page.
Siwan
Tags: American Geophysical Union, Film, Ines Cifuentes, Information and knowledge management, Randy Olson, Scientists telling stories, Sharing knowledge, Stories, Storytelling, The Benshi blog
Information and knowledge management, Resources | Siwan Lovett | 
20 August 2010 10:36 am | 
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It is only 2 weeks until the Origins Asia Pacific Conference in Singapore and I am so lucky to be presenting at this event.
This conference is part of the Singapore International Storytelling Festival and is organised by The National Book Development Council of Singapore. The aim of Origins is to foster the practice of business storytelling and narrative techniques in the Asia Pacific region and to build awareness among government agencies and corporations of the power of storytelling and narrative for business.
At the ARRC we believe that storytelling and narrative techniques are essential skills and knowledge for organisational effectiveness. We will keep you posted because this is an area where the ARRC will continue to promote and provide resources. Check out our Resources section for more information on narrative techniques and story.
I will be keeping our followers posted through Twitter during the event and the ARRC blog after the event.
Nerida
In a bold move the International Riversymposium team has bravely left Brisbane to host the event in Perth! I applaud this initiative, as river protection, restoration and management is happening all around Australia and it is great to have the opportunity to attract people with a new location.
I am particularly excited about the Riversymposium this year, as it is my first as one of the domestic Riverprize judges – what an honour this is as we get down to our final round of judging. I have been so impressed with the quality of applications, and am heartened and thrilled to see so much great work going on in our river, creeks, wetlands and waterways. I encourage anyone who can, to get to Perth, I will be presenting a paper, as well as running a few workshops with Natalie Baker from the International River Foundation on ‘connecting through conversation’ and ‘knowledge sharing’. I look forward to seeing you there! For more information click here.
Siwan
Torbay Catchment, Photo courtesy Louise Duxbury
The theme of this year’s ANPC conference is: planning conservation to achieve restoration. I attended an ANPC conference last year in the Grampians (Vic), and was very impressed with the commitment, insight and expertise of all those who attended. I recommend anyone with an interest in native plants take the opportunity to get along to what is sure to be a great conference. The post-conference field trip to the international biodiversity ‘hot spot’ of the south-west of WA is sure to be fantastic! For more information click here.
Siwan
